WASHINGTON – Yesterday on the floor, U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) urged House Committee on Education and Labor Chairman Bobby Scott to allow his bipartisan child sexual abuse prevention bill, the Jenna Quinn Law, to advance from his committee and receive a vote in the House of Representatives. The Jenna Quinn Law passed unanimously out of the Senate in September, and Rep. Scott is the only person blocking it from heading to the House floor, where it will easily pass. Excerpts of Sen. Cornyn’s remarks are below, and audio can be found here.
“We’ve got important work we need to do here and part of that is the Jenna Quinn Law. This bipartisan piece of legislation that I introduced with Senator Hassan over a year and a half ago to help identify and stop child sexual abuse in communities across our country has passed the Senate unanimously but is stuck in the House of Representatives.”
“Bobby Scott is blocking the Jenna Quinn Law. He voted to decriminalize marijuana, he voted to ban the private ownership of big cats, but he won’t even let the Jenna Quinn Law receive an up-or-down vote on the floor of the House of Representatives.”
“As the stressors of the pandemic and lack of reporting take a violent toll on our children across the country, it is time for action. Not excuses, not decriminalizing marijuana, not a Tiger King bill, but passing legislation that will actually make their lives better and give them some hope.”
“There’s one person in the House of Representatives that’s holding that up right now and that’s Chairman Scott.”
“Children are suffering every day. They’re not worried about politics or whether Chairman Scott has the leverage he needs to advance a larger partisan bill later on next year.”
“The sort of mindless obstruction we’re seeing from Chairman Scott in the House exemplifies everything people loathe about Congress. Holding up a bill to prevent child sexual abuse as a means to gain political leverage for a bigger partisan bill. It’s just shameful.”
“It’s time for Chairman Scott to stop blocking the Jenna Quinn Law so we can provide the lifesaving training to the men and women most likely to stop the cycle of child sexual abuse.”